China's Lunar Calendar 2013 07-04

Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Calendars and Almanacs"  

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT July 7.....................................................................................................June 30 RIGHT

This is one in a never-ending series—following the movements of the calendar—in Round and Square perpetuity. It is today's date in the Chinese lunar calendar, along with basic translation and minimal interpretation. Unless you have been studying lunar calendars (and Chinese culture) for many years, you will likely find yourself asking "what does that mean?" I would caution that "it" doesn't "mean" any one thing. There are clusters of meaning, and they require patience, reflection, careful reading, and, well, a little bit of ethnographic fieldwork. The best place to start is the introduction to "Calendars and Almanacs" on this blog. I teach a semester-long course on this topic and, trust me, it takes a little bit of time to get used to the lunar calendar. Some of the material is readily accessible; some of it is impenetrable, even after many years. 

As time goes on, I will link all of the sections to lengthy background essays. This will take a while. In the meantime, take a look, read the introduction, and think about all of the questions that emerge from even a quick look at the calendar.

Section One
Solar Calendar Date
(top to bottom; right to left) 
四
日

四期星

Seventh Month, Fourth Day

Astral Period Four
Thursday, July 4

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Section Two

Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)

六合月麒
合日德麟

Unicorn
Lunar Virtue
Linked Days
Six Linkages

—————————————————

Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left) 
申辰子

吉中凶

酉己丑

凶吉凶

戌午寅

中吉吉

亥未卯

凶中吉

23:00-01:00 Inauspicious
01:00-03:00 Inauspicious
03:00-05:00 Auspicious
05:00-07:00 Auspicious

07:00-09:00 In-Between
09:00-11:00 Auspicious
11:00-13:00 Auspicious
13:00-15:00 In-Between

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 Inauspicious
19:00-21:00 In-Between
21:00-23:00 Inauspicious

The hours above are for Hong Kong. It is up to you if you want to recalibrate or to assume that the cyclicality of the calendar "covers" the rest of the world. This is a greater interpretive challenge than you might think.

————————————————— 

Section Four
Activities to Avoid 
(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

忌

行除造合
喪服酒醬

Mixing Sauces
Making Liquor
Discarding Clothing
Mourning Visits

————————————————— 

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
七
辛
未
土

井
除

Twenty-seventh Day (fifth lunar month)

Cyclical day: xinwei (8/60)

Phase (element): Earth

Constellation: Well (22/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)

————————————————— 

Section Six
Appropriate Activities 
(and Miscellaneous Information)
(top-to-bottom; right to left)

 宜
修理訂祭
倉髮婚祀
安修納祈
牀造采福
納動嫁會
畜土娶友
安上移出
葬樑徙行
不債
上孤勾三
兀辰陳喪

Appropriate Activities   
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Engaging-to Marry
Grain Payments
Marriage Alliances
Moving Residences
Patterning Hair
Repairs and Building
Moving Soil
Erecting Beams
Repairing Granaries
Positioning Beds
Livestock Payments
Positioning Graves

Debt Not

Miscellaneous Information    

Three Mournings
Aroused Narration
Orphan Dawn
Upper Amputee

 —————————————————  
Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

(right to left)
丫林
Bifurcation, Copse

—————————————————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Activities

(Top to bottom; right to left)
廚 灶 厠

Kitchen, Stove, Toilet